Solidarity Shouts
Wellington Phoenix squad building, Alexis Tauaneai & NRLW, Tall Blacks prep, FIFA World Cup, Junior Kiwis speculation & more
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What Comes Next For The Football Ferns After This World Cup Campaign? (Football)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: What You Are Missing About The 2023 Season (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Pompey Pedigree (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: No Complacency vs Titans (Rugby League)
2023 NRLWahine: Round Two Preview & Stats (Rugby League)
The Wellington Phoenix Blokes Appear To Have An Academy Player Resurgence On Their Hands (Football)
Football Ferns at the 2023 FIFA World Cup: Valiant Elimination vs Switzerland (Football)
Flying Kiwis – August 2 (Football)
27fm Weekly Playlist: July 31 (Music)
27fm Album Jukebox – July 2023 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
Roosters have been battling in NRL this season and their NRLW team were defeated by a hearty Raiders team last weekend. Last night, both Roosters teams grabbed wins with the blokes defeating Sea Eagles 26-16 and the ladies defeating Dragons 30-0. Both games featured impressive mahi from the Kiwi-NRL Roosters but Alexis Tauaneai holds the most intrigue in a losing Dragons team.
The 18-year-old Wainuiomata junior once again led the Dragons through the middle with 20 runs - 189m @ 9.4m/run, 4 offloads, 34 tackles @ 97% in 67 minutes of footy. No other Dragons forward had more than 10 runs and while four other Dragons made 30+ tackles, they all missed at least five tackles. Tauaneai missed just one tackle and has only missed a total of four tackles this season.
Tauaneai's instant excellence in NRLW is my favourite Aotearoa sports thing right now. I've shared plenty of information about her journey from Wellington to NRLW over the past six months and wasn't expecting her to be a starting forward for round tahi, let alone playing big minutes. After 52 and 46mins in her first two games, Taunaeai elevated to 67mins against Roosters.
Tough outing for the rest of NRLWahine Dragons (Cortez Te Pou, Tyla Nathan-Wong, Raecene McGregor, Roxy Murdoch). Roosters enjoyed strong mahi from Teuila Fotu-Moala who grabbed her first start of the season with 26mins, 9 runs - 102m @ 11.3m/run, 2 tb, 1 offload, 10 tackles @ 90%. Lexi Kiriwi only played 11mins off the bench and Otesa Pule scored a try in 35mins off the bench with 6 runs - 91m @ 15.1m/run, 5 tb, 17 tackles @ 94%.
Joseph Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Brandon Smith and Siua Wong all played for Roosters in their win over Sea Eagles. Considering my appreciation for Tauaneai, the performance of Wong is especially funky as the 20-year-old played 80mins at edge forward and made the most tackles of all players in this game with 55.
Wong played every level of footy except NRL last season and when I wrote that Kiwi-NRL Spotlight, there wasn't much background information about his junior footy apart from a year or two at Mt Albert Grammar. Wong is now listed as a Burnham (Canterbury) a Manurewa (Auckland) junior before leaving for Sydney.
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I have tried to build a Junior Kiwi-NRL team below. This is made up of players who are mainly in Queensland/New South Wales U21s but features lads from U18/19 who have moved up during the season, as well as U21s who have moved up to NSW Cup. Most players are in NRL systems, although the Wynnum/Broncos connection is a bit murky along with the Brisbane/Storm link.
Below the team is a list of players who could easily be injected into the team and I probablyy missed some lads along the way. Allow this to set the scene of how much Kiwi-NRL talent is in the pipeline and there are no youngsters from NZ Warriors either.
Fullback: Te Hurinui Twiddle (Turangawaewae - Eels)
Wingers: Daeon Amituanai (Whiti Te Ra - Panthers), Tavita Henare-Schuster (Kia Toa - Roosters)
Centres: Sefa Roache-Faimalo (Wynnum - Marist), Josiah Karapani (East Tamaki - Rabbitohs)
Halves: Cassius Tia (Marist - Roosters), Sione Moala (Manurewa - Bulldogs)
Middles: Salesi Ataata (Otahuhu - Sharks), Henry Teutau (Marist - Cowboys) Sebastian Su'a (Mt Albert - Knights)
Edges: Nathaniel Tangimataiti (Ellerslie - Wynnum), Sione Vaihu (Waitemata - Tigers)
Hooker: Benaiah Ioelu (Tangaroa College - Roosters)
Bench: John Fineanganofo (Auckland Grammar - Redcliffe), K-Ci Newton-Whare (Riccarton - Storm), Felix Fa'atili (Hornby - Sharks), Elijah Rasmussen (Westlake Boys - Redcliffe)
Backs
Te Umuariki Heremia-Tukere (Turangawaewae - Dragons)
Tea-Rani Woodman-Tuhoro (Northland - Brisbane)
Eric Va'afusuaga (Kings College - Bulldogs)
Cruz Lasike (Kaitaia - Burleigh)
Chris Vea'ila (Waitemata - Sharks)
Jack Sandford (Christchurch Boys - Raiders)
Samuela Vakadula (Bell Block - Brisbane)
Siamani Leuluai (Mid-Northern - Raiders)
Iverson Mapu-Satiu (Wellington College - Sea Eagles)
Cassius Cowley (Tokoroa - Wynnum)
Forwards
Tamakaimoana Whareaorere (Te Puke - Knights)
Salesi Foketi (Manurewa - Roosters)
Alekolasami Jones (Mt Albert - Bulldogs)
Paaua Papuni-Abbott (Te Atatu - Sharks)
TJ Devery (Te Atatu - Burleigh)
Sam McIntyre (Nothcote - Burleigh)
Tray Lolesio (Otara - Tigers)
Lafi Tuinauvai (Waitemata - Roosters)
Fahmy Toilalo (Otahuhu - Bulldogs)
Here are stats for Blackcaps World Cuppers in T20 leagues. The Canadian league is still being played and I'll re-up with that once it's finished...
T20 Blast (England)
Matt Henry: 1st - 31w @ 13.2avg/7.8rpo
Ish Sodhi: 8w @ 17.3avg/6.9rpo
Mitchell Santner: 404 runs @ 33.6avg/151sr | 12w @ 28.8avg/7.2rpo
Daryl Mitchell: 435 runs @ 43.5avg/160.5sr | 12w @ 23.4avg/8.2rpo
Major League Cricket (USA)
Trent Boult: 1st - 22w @ 10.36avg/7.4rpo | 29 runs @ 223sr
Devon Conway: 4th - 221 runs @ 31.5avg/126sr
Glenn Phillips: 122 runs @ 20.3avg/127sr
Mitchell Santner: 87 runs @ 12.4avg/128sr | 4w @ 41.2avg/8.2rpo
Finn Allen: 75 runs @ 15avg/163sr
Global T20 Canada
Mark Chapman: 89 runs @ 17.8avg/106sr
Jimmy Neesham: 87 runs @ 29avg/95sr | 1w @ 77avg/7.7rpo
Tim Southee: 4w @ 35.5avg/7rpo
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
The group stage is complete at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Every team has played three games, half of them will continue on into the round of sixteen while the other half are already on their way home. New Zealand only scored one goal in three games but, curiously, had an overall xG of 4.3 which ranked 15/32 teams. Same as Canada... who also only scored once and were eliminated in the group stage.
17 of NZ’s 23-player squad took the pitch at some stage. There are only two nations who used fewer players during the group phase: Colombia (16) and Australia (15). Four other teams were also on 17. Additionally, when you adjust it based on minutes played, it turns out that New Zealand had the second oldest squad at the tournament with an average on-pitch age of 29.5 years. South Korea rose over the 30-mark to be way out in front on that stat. That’s not really so surprising from the Football Ferns perspective though.
Three teams went through without conceding a single goal: Japan, Jamaica, and Switzerland. The Fernies only allowed one which puts them on par with England, Denmark, USA, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal. Solidarity shout outs to Portugal for keeping us company in that group by also missing out on progression. With 1.7 xG against, the Ferns ranked seventh in the entire tournament defensively.
If you’ve been watching the Ferns, it won’t shock you to learn that they only had 9 shots on target out of 39 total. 23.1% is in the bottom quarter of the tourney for shot accuracy... although if you’ve been watching the USA it won’t shock you to learn that theirs was even worse.
Katie Bowen completed 174 passes (at 80.2%) which ranks 15th overall. She jumps up to 5th overall in terms of progressive passing distance. CJ Bott won 9 tackles which trailed only Bonkeka Gamede (RSA) and Ji So-yun (KOR) who each had 10 of them. Ria Percival and Malia Steinmetz were also both top-15 for tackles attempted, not always winning them but always disrupting things in the middle. Hannah Wilkinson was ruled offside four times, equal most. That’s not a bad thing though – offsides come with the territory of being a striker (Chris Wood’s Premier League offside tallies are legendary). Also Ali Riley ranked second for ball recoveries while Katie Bowen was sixth in the same stat.
The Tall Blacks lost the opening game on their pre-World Cup tour, going down 79-72 to Japan. They were leading by 12 points after the first quarter but Japan soared back in the second and then held things off from there, so it goes. Finn Delany led the way with 16 points & 7 rebounds while Reuben Te Rangi scored 15 points. The game wasn’t broadcast so we’re working off notes here but it sounds like turnovers were the big problem.
But no dramas there. This is a team adjusting to playing without some of the key players of their last decade with no Tom Abercrombie, Corey Webster, Rob Loe, Tai Webster, etc. It’s all about getting up the reps right now. Neither Shea Ili nor Isaac Fotu played here either and there’s an argument that those are the two best players in the current squad. Add in that this was game one in an extended tour that culminates in the World Cup late this month and there’s nothing to worry about. They’re just getting their sea legs. There’s a rematch against Japan at 10pm tonight (Friday). Then it’s off to Turkey to continue the preparation.
The Wellington Phoenix blokes play their first Aussie Cup game of the new season tonight at 9.30pm NZT. It’ll be livestreamed on YouTube – here’s the link if you fancy some football after the Warriors game… on the first day in ages without a single Women’s World Cup game. It’s a rest day prior to the knockout rounds.
Of course this will be Giancarlo Italiano’s first match in charge since he was announced as the new head coach. From day one Chiefy has teased how he has a different vision to what Ufuk Talay was doing with this squad. We’ll be moving away from the 4-2-2-2 formation into something new and this will be the first opportunity to see what that looks like. I’m picking a three-man midfield.
The travelling squad includes four academy players all called up for the first time. Ben Wallace was the bolter in the U20 World Cup squad having not been a part of qualifying but he ended up scoring a ripping goal in the win over Guatemala and really impressed with his direct attacking approach from the right wing. Josh Rudland narrowly missed out on that squad, he’s a striker with an eye for goal. He has six so far in the Central League and once scored a 34-minute hat-trick in a National League game.
Kaelin Nguyen is another forward who has been around for a couple of years, he’s quick and presses really well. Hasn’t always had the finishing touch but he’s scored some big goals lately and has been rewarded for that progress with this call-up. That’s what you wanna see. Fergus Gillion is the other lad. He’s the funkiest of the quartet because he’s slightly younger and hasn’t played as much for the WeeNix. He’s the younger brother of Auckland City winger Liam Gillion – they both played for Western Suburbs together a couple years ago. Fergus is, once again, an attacking player... although Chief mentioned pairing him with midfielder Fin Conchie in an internal game which suggests a deeper role.
Still, for a team that hasn’t yet signed the import defender they were talking about, that’s a lot of attacking depth. The only players unavailable are Fin Conchie (suspended) and Ben Old (still injured). Mo Al-Taay, Jack Duncan, and Lukas Kelly-Heald are also in line for club debuts alongside those four young fellas. LKH is one of those young fellas himself, to be fair. Curious to see that neither Alex Paulsen nor Jack Duncan are going to be wearing the number one jersey so no clues there as to how that battle’s going.
Meanwhile the Welly Nix Women’s squad continues to take shape for year three. Third year in existence, third different head coach (all internal promotions though). They’re now up to nine players on the books as they seek to surge up the table this time around, having just re-signed a pair of Football Ferns training players – and also inaugural WahiNix squadies – Kate Taylor and Grace Wisnewski.
Nine players is ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the league... so that’s cool. It’s early days in the A-League offseason. So far the Nix have only picked up one player from outside last season’s squad: Canterbury defender Rebecca Lake, one of the best domestic players on the scene and a former teammate of fellow Cantabs Kate Taylor and Marisa van der Meer. We have had a few players released from last time. We’ve also had a pair of departures with Milly Clegg joining Western Sydney Wanderers and Claudia Cicco joining Newcastle Jets.
Under Contract: Mackenzie Barry, Michaela Robertson, Emma Main, Chloe Knott, Alyssa Whinham, Marisa van der Meer, Kate Taylor, Grace Wisnewski, Rebecca Lake
Released/Departed: Milly Clegg (WSW), Claudia Cicco (NEW), Izzy Gomez, Ava Pritchard, Saskia Vosper, Charlotte Lancaster, Te Reremoana Walker, Georgia Candy
TBD: Zoe McMeeken, Betsy Hassett, Paige Satchell, Michaela Foster, Lily Alfeld, Brianna Edwards, Emma Rolston
Of the departees, three of them were scholarship players. Zoe McMeeken doesn’t have a senior contract right now but she’s still young enough that she’s been playing for the academy/reserves team and could continue to do that even if she doesn’t get signed. Many of that reserves team, including McMeeken, made up the bulk of the NZ U19s team that recently cruised through Oceania qualifying for the next youth World Cup.
Of the others who are off contract, we’ve got three Football Ferns World Cup squad members in Hassett, Foster, and Satchell. Plus two goalkeepers (with the other keeper, Georgia Candy, having been released) and another forward all of whom were part of the extended Ferns training squad. Safe to say they probably want all of them back, whether they can manage that or not is another matter.
Haven’t yet heard if there will be the same restrictions on Australian players in place as before. If there are then that’s an issue because only Mickey Robertson has so far re-signed of that quintet. Cicco and Gomez are gone. McMeeken and Edwards are in limbo.